Barrel tap fitting



March 26, 1940. w LARSON 2,194,799

BARREL TAP FITTING Filed Oct. 15, 1938 -m lIIIIIII/IIIIIIIIII/ FZ wall/11111111111, [III/I! INVENTOR. RUSSELL W. LARSON ATTORNEY.

l atented Mar. 26, 1940 UNITED STATES BARREL TAP FITTING Russell W. Larson, Montclair, N. J., assignor of one-third to Hamilton Smith, and one-third to Hugo Stroeble Application October 15, 1938, Serial No. 235,219

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to barrel taps and has particular reference to a tap fitting for use on kegs or barrels for beer and other liquids which are maintained under pressure.

In the prior art fittings of various types have long been employed to establish an air tight connection between a keg or barrel and the supply conduit which conducts the liquid through the customary coiling units to the dispensing faucet.

Since the liquid, such as beer or the like, is usually under pressure when sealed at the brewery and is subjected to additional pressure in order to raise the body of liquid from one level to another it is imperative that the connection be such as to withstand the applied pressure. Otherwise the pressure being dissipated the liquid cannot be raised and in addition continued leakage of pressure will result in a liberation of the natural gases from the beer rendering it flat and unpalatable.

Because of the necessity for a tight connection the most universal tap fitting employed in the art consists of a threaded arrangement which is tightened. However, such fitting requires an ap- 2 preciable period of time to tighten and when tapping a keg a tool such as a wrench or the like must be employed.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a barrel tap fitting which may be rapidly attached to the barrel and tightenecl without the necessity of resorting to any tools.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a barrel tap fitting of sturdy, yet simple, construction and with which considerable leverage can be readily exerted to tighten the fitting without resort to tools.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a barrel tap fitting having a saddle arrangement with cam surfaces enabling the fitting to be applied to the barrel with celerity.

Still further objects of the present invention will become obvious to those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying drawing wherein,

Figure l is an elevational view partly in crosssection of a barrel tap fitting constructed in accordance with the present invention and shown attached to a barrel,

Figure 2 is an elevational view in cross-section and on an enlarged scale of the barrel tap fitting shown in Figure 1,

Figure 3 an elevational view of a part of the fitting shown in the preceding figures with portions thereof broken away at the lines III-III of Figure 2 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows,

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line IV-IV of Figure 3, and

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the slight modification of the fitting as shown in Figure ,1.

Referring now to the drawing in detail there is shown in Figure 1 a keg or barrel 5 containing a liquid 6 such for example as beer or the like. 10 As is now more or less universal in the brewing art, the barrel 5 is provided with a threaded metallic bushing l forming an integral part of the barrel. This bushing I is customarily provided with a flange 8 which, together with a suitable 15 gasket 9, bears against the surface of the barrel 5. A recess I0 is also provided in such bushing which, near the surface, is of slightly less width than at the bottom to thus form an annular shoulder I2 as can be more readily seen in Fig- 20 ures l and 2. I

The fitting proper, which forms the subject matter of the present invention, comprises abonnet I3 having a central bore I4 extending there through and externally threaded, as at l5, for a part of "its length. At its lower extremity the ,bonnet flares outwardly to form an integral flange I6 and below this flange the body portion I! of thebonnet is of slightly reduced diameter so as to readily extend downwardly into the opening I8 of the bushing I a substantial distance below the upper surface thereof.

A knurled adjusting nut I9 threadedly engages the bonnet I3 and above this nut is a handle 20 having an annular portion 22 loosely surrounding the bonnet. The annular portion 22 of the handle is provided with a cam surface 23 which engages a similar cam surface 24 provided on the underside of a tightening saddle 25 also loosely surrounding the bonnet I3. This tightening saddle 25, which may be cast or formed en bloc, is provided with a pair of depending arms 26 passing through slots 2'! in the flange I6 and at their lower extremity these arms are turned toward each other to form coupling lugs 21'. Disposed between the underside of the bonnet flange I6 and the outer surface of the bushing I, to assist in making an air tight connection, is a gasket 28 and, in order to prevent rotation of the adjusting nut I9 with the handle portion 22, a metallic washer 29 is interposed therebetween which has a projection 30 (Figure 4) forming a key and engaging a key-way orslot 32 in the bonnet.-

For the purpose of transmitting the beer 6 to 65 a suitable cooling chamber prior to the delivery to a dispensing faucet a conduit is provided. As shown in Figures 1 and 2 such conduit comprises an outer tube 33 and a concentrically disposed inner tube 34 both of which extend through the bore M in the bonnet to the bottom of the barrel or keg 5.

An internally threaded collar 35 having tightening handles 36 frictionally engages the conduit 33 and in order to form a fluid tight joint between the conduit and tap fitting, the collar 35 engages the threaded portion of the bonnet with a packing or gasket 37 interposed therebetween. Immediately above the collar 35 the conduit is provided with a Y fitting 38 of the usual construction. The vertically disposed branches transmit the beer with the result that in effect the inner conduit 34 extends straight through the fitting while the outer conduit 33 communicates with the angularly disposed branch leading to a source of pressure supply, such as an air compressor or the like, (not shown) as is customary in beer dispensing systems.

Referring now to the modification shown in Figure 5, it is identical to that shown in Figure 1 in every detail with the exception that the bonnet I3 is provided with an integral branch 39 which thus enables the bore 54 of the bonnet to serve for the supply of pressure to the barrel eliminating the outer conduit 33.

In operation the tap fitting is secured to the busln'ng by inserting the lugs 2'! of the saddle 25 in a pair of oppositely disposed slots (not shown) and with the gasket 28 in place the fitting is turned slightly to enable the lugs to lie immediately beneath the annular shoulder I2 as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2. The conduit 33 (or conduit 34 of Figure 5) may then be secured in place by inserting it through the bore M of the bonnet and tightening the collar 35 at this time or, if preferred, it may be inserted after the entire tap fitting has been tightened on the kegs 5.

The knurled nut i9 is initially adjusted to insure the proper leverage and once adjusted for a given size bushing need not be again disturbed unless its setting is inadvertently altered, which will raise the lugs upward until they touch the annular shoulder 12 as shown by the full lines in Figures 1 and 2. The attendant then grasps the handle 20 and rotates the same in a clockwise direction as viewed from Figure 4. Rotation of the handle 23 causes the cam surface 23 to engage the cam surface 24 provided on the underside of the saddle 25.

This arrangement in effect tends to raise the saddle 25 together with the depending arms 26 and lugs 27' since it is loosely mounted on the bonnet l3. However, inasmuch as the lugs are already in contact with the underside of the annular shoulder I2 (having been raised by the adjusting nut) the saddle cannot rise. This accordingly causes a downward thrust on the entire bonnet l 3 compressing the gasket 28 and thus forming a fluid tight connection insuring against leakage of the pressure within the keg or barrel 5.

It will thus become obvious to those skilled in the art that a barrel tap fitting is herein provided which is simple and economical to manufacture yet is positive in its action. By the construction shown and described an attendant may rapidly tap a barrel without resort to any tools and immediately tighten the fitting by the simple expedient of operating a lever which exerts considerable force without much effort on the part of the attendant.

Although two embodiments of the present invention have been herein shown and described it is to be understood that other modifications of the same may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A barrel tap fitting for a barrel bushing comprising a hollow bonnet, a tightening saddle slidably fitting said bonnet and provided with a bifurcated portion engageable with said barrel bushing, and an annulus loosely fitting said bonnet and disposed between a projection on the latter and said tightening saddle and provided with a cam face adapted to engage a second cam face on said fitting and operable upon rotation thereof less than a complete turn to exert an opposing force between said tightening saddle and bonnet to force said bonnet into effective sealing relation with said barrel bushing.

2. A barrel tap fitting for a barrel bushing comprising a hollow bonnet, a tightening saddle slidably fitting said bonnet, arms extending from said saddle for engaging said barrel bushing, an upper cam face on the underside of said tightening saddle, an annulus loosely fitting said bonnet and providing for the free endwise movement of said bonnet, an opposing lower cam face on said annulus, and an arm on said annulus for movement thereof to engage said cam faces and cause a relative movement between said bonnet and saddle to force said bonnet into effective sealing relation with said barrel bushing.

3. A barrel tap fitting for a barrel bushing comprising a hollow bonnet, a tightening saddle slidably fitting said bonnet and provided with a bifurcated portion engageable with said barrel bushing, an upper cam face on the underside of said tightening saddle. an annulus loosely fitting said bonnet to allow free movement of said bonnet, an opposing lower cam face on said annulus, an arm on said annulus for movement thereof to engage said cam faces and cause said tightening saddle to exert an opposing force between said saddle and said bonnet for the purpose of forming a pressure seal between said fitting and barrel bushing, and an adjustable member engaging said bonnet and operable to cause movement of said annulus relative to said bonnet for regulating the leverage exerted between said tightening saddle and bonnet.

4. A barrel tap fitting for a barrel bushing comprising a hollow bonnet, a tightening saddle slidably fitting said bonnet, arms extending from said saddle for engaging said barrel bushing, an upper cam face on the underside of said tightening saddle, an annulus loosely fitting said bonnet for the free endwise movement of said bonnet, an opposing lower cam face on said annulus, an arm on said annulus for movement thereof to engage said cam surfaces and cause a relative movement between said bonnet and tightening saddle to force said bonnet into effective sealing relation with said barrel bushing, and said cam faces having a pitch so proportioned as to cause said bonnet to move into effective sealing relation with said barrel bushing when said annulus has been moved less than a complete rotation about said bonnet.

RUSSELL W. LARSON. 

